Machine for feeding and agitating



Nov. 30, 1965 D. H. PHILLIPS MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND AGITATING Filed Feb. 25 1964 INVENTOR DONALD H. PHILLIPS M MW ATTORNEYS United States Patent ice 3220,79 MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND AGITATING Donald H. Philiips, North Syracuse, N.Y., assignor to Bristol-Myers Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 25, 1964, Ser. No. 347,283 6 Claims. (Cl. 25912) This invention relates to a device for feeding a fluent material into vessels which are being bodily moved to agitate their contents. More particularly, this invention is directed to such a device which ntilizes the motion of the vessel and its supporting structure to drive a dispensing means.

The present invention may be used with various types of agitators, but it has been found to be especially useful with a gyratory table shaker of conventional construction. Gyratory shakers of this type are frequently used in the preparation of pharmaceutical products when cultures are femented in flasks. It is sometimes desirable to add a nutrient to accelerate the fermentation, and this has produced some technical difficulties. The rapid movement of the flasks prevents the addition of a nutrient solution during agitation, and thus the continuous addition of nutrients has not been possible heretofore.

It is an object of this invention to provide a means for continuously adding a nutrient or other fluent material to flasks or other vessels which are being bodily moved to agitate their contents.

Another object is to employ the motion of an agitating device to drive a dispensing means which feeds material into vessels being agitated.

Theses and other objects are satisfied by the instant invention which, in its broadest sense, calls for the following: an agitator which holds a vessel and moves it in a given manner, means for dispensing material into the vessel, a movable member for actuating the dispensing means, and means responsive to the motion of the vessel holding means for moving the movable member.

The invention may be understood more clearly by turning to the drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a gyratory shaker holding a series of three flasks which are equipped with the feed device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of one of the feed devices; and

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of a feed device.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a horizontal table 2 rests at its corners on supports 4 which permit movement of the table in a horizontal plane. A fixed motor 6 has an eccentric drive 8 which is connected to the table to move it in a horizontal gyratory path. Each point on the table follows a circular orbit when the .agitator is in operation. A series of standard resilient flask holders 10 are attached to the table, and vessels such as the Erlenmeyer flasks 12 are held therewithin.

Each of the flasks 12 is provided with a flexible cover 14 which prevents the entry of contaminating particles. Located above each vessel is a pump dispensing means such as a syringe device having a hollow barrel portion 16 and a plunger portion 18. A needle 20 depends through cover 14 to carry the nutrient fluid or other material from the syringe into the vessel. The plunger is slidable axially within the barrel in a conventional manner.

A bracket, generally designated 22, is anchored to the table 2 and attaches to the barrel 16, so that the barrel is held in fixed relationship with respect to the moving table.

The uppermost end of the plunger 18 has an enlarged section 24 which is held in the bifurcated end portion of an arm 26. For purposes of this description, the arm Patented Nov. 30, 1965 26 may be considered a part of the plunger portion. The opposite end of arm 26 is provided with an internally threaded sleeve 28 which is supported on a movable member, in this case a rotatable threaded shaft 30. It will be noted that the axis of the shaft 30 is parallel to and oifset from the axis of the plunger 18. This construction prevents the plunger from being rotated.

The shaft 30 receives its rotation from the output end of a mechanical linkage speed reducing means such as reduction gear 32. The input end of the reduction gear is driven by means shown only in the device at the left of FIG. 1, where the side flange of the. table 2 has been broken away for purposes of illustration. The other feed devices have identical structure. A depending rotatable rod 34 has its axis generally normal to the plane in which the table 2 lies. An eccentric weight 36 is attached to the rod and is free to swing therewith. Of course the rod moves in an oscillatory path with the table 2 and flask holders 10.

From the above description, the operation of this apparatus is quite apparent. The movement of table 2 and the various instrumentalities attached thereto will cause the weight 36 to impart rotary motion to the rod 34. The mechanical linkage of reduction gear 32 transmits this motion to the shaft 30. Rotation of the shaft 30 causes the plunger 18 to move downwardly into the barrel 16 to dispense a fluent material into the vessel 12.

The rate at which the material is dispensed into the vessel or flask is dependent upon numerous factors, including the size of the syringe, the speed at which the table is rotating, the ratio of the reduction gear, and the thread size on the shaft 30. In one model, a standard 5 c.c. syringe was used on a gyratory table having 235 cycles per minute. A 13,000zl ratio was used on the reduction gears and the shaft 30 had 92 threads per inch. This produced a feed rate of 0.035 ml./ hour.

Numerous modifications to the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example the axis of rod 30 may be inclined somewhat, so long as it remains normal to some plane into which oscillatory components of the table motion may be projected. For the purposes of this description, oscillatory is not to be construed in its limited sense, but includes any non-rectilinear motion which involves the repeated changing back and forth of velocity vectors, and therefore includes both gyratory and reciprocatory motion.

The scope of this invention is not restricted to the single embodiment disclosed above, but is clearly set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an agitator of the type having means for holding a vessel and moving it along an oscillatory path, means for dispensing a material into said vessel, a movable member actuating said dispensing means, and means moving said movable member including a weight rotatable about and eccentric to an axis which is movable with said vessel hold-ing means, and means mechanically linking said Weight to said movable member so that rotation of said weight about said axis will impart movement to said movable member.

2. Apparatus for feeding a material into a vessel comprising means for holding a vessel, means moving said vessel holding means in a path having an oscillatory component in a given plane, means for dispensing material into a vessel, a movable member actuating said dispensing means, an axis normal to said given plane and movable with said vessel holding means, means for moving said movable member including a weight eccentric to and rotatable about said axis, and means mechanically linking said weight to said movable member; whereby oscillatory motion of said vessel holding means will cause said weight to rotate about said axis, causing said movable member to move to actuate said dispensing means.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said means moving said vessel holding means imparts a gyratory motion thereto.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said dispensing means has a hollow barrel portion and a plunger portion movable axially within said barrel portion, said movable member being rotatable and having a threaded connection to one of said portions of said dispensing means, said movable member having its axis of rotation parallel to and offset from a longitudinal axis of said barrel.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said means mechanically connecting said weight to said movable member includes speed reducing means causing said movable member to rotate at a lower rotary speed than said weight.

6. In combination; a gyratory shaker having a table with all points thereon moving in a gyratory path, means for holding vessels on said table; and means for feeding fluent material into vessels on said table comprising a rotatable rod movable with said table and generally perpendicular to said path, a weight attached eccentrically to said rod to rotate said rod, pump means having a barrel portion and a plunger portion for dispensing material into a vessel on said table, means holding one of said pump portions in a fixed position with respect to said table, means preventing said other pump portion from rotating, a rotatable member threadedly connected to said other pump portion for moving said other pump portion axially with respect to said one pump portion, means mechanically linking said rod and said rotatable member so that rotation of said rod will impart rotation to said rotatable member; whereby movement of said table will agitate the contents of a vessel thereupon and cause said weight to impart rotary motion to said rod, and consequent motion of said linking means said rotatable member and said other pump portion will cause material to be dispensed into a vessel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1913 Hoepner l4178 10/1964 Bittner 259-12 

1. IN AN AGITATOR OF THE TYPE HAVING MEANS FOR HOLDING A VESSEL AND MOVING IT ALONG AN OSCILLATORY PATH, MEANS FOR DISPENSING A MATERIAL INTO SAID VESSEL, A MOVABLE MEMBER ACTUATING SAID DISPENSING MEANS, AND MEANS MOVING SAID MOVABLE MEMBER INCLUDING A WEIGHT ROTATABLE ABOUT AND ECCENTRIC TO AN AXIS WHICH IS MOVABLE WITH SAID VESSEL HOLDING MEANS, AND MEANS MECHANICALLY LINKING. 